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Approach Venture

Mechanical Design Engineer - Pressure Boundary Hardware & Skid Integration

Location

El Segundo, CA

Wage

$140,000 – $200,000/yr

Employment Type

Full-time

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Posted on November 11, 2026

Job Description

Overview

A seed-stage energy startup is hiring a Mechanical Design Engineer to own the mechanical design of its next-generation turbine power blocks. The company is developing turbine-based power conversion systems for industrial power demand and clean energy applications.

Responsibilities

  • Own detailed mechanical design of the machine and supporting systems.
  • Produce released drawings with disciplined GD&T and drafting practice.
  • Work with vendors to bring designs from drawing to assembled hardware.
  • Manage interfaces and tolerance stacks across the machine.
  • Apply DFMA for early prototypes and future production.
  • Partner with analysis teammates to verify structural and thermal performance.
  • Assemble, build, and test the hardware designed.

Requirements

  • BS or higher in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related field.
  • Proven experience taking complex mechanical hardware from concept through released drawings, test, and validation.
  • Strong CAD skills (SolidWorks, NX, Onshape, CREO, or comparable) and GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
  • Practical knowledge of machining, fabrication, and assembly.
  • Sound judgment on how designs interact with structural, thermal, and sealing requirements.
  • Strong communicator who is eager to learn and to teach.

Benefits

  • Equity ownership
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • 401k
  • PTO

Additional Information

  • On-site position in El Segundo, CA.

Benefits

Equity ownership
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
401k
PTO
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in El Segundo, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $82/hr, this posting sits about 54% above the $53/hr median for welding jobs in El Segundo, CA — toward the top of a $48–$71/hr middle band drawn from 12 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 100% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in El Segundo, CA

We're tracking 13 other active welding openings in El Segundo, CA right now, from 12 different employers. 7 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 505 other active welding openings from 240 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in El Segundo, or widen the search to California.

Approach Venture currently has 1 other opening live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (37), Relativity Space (18), and Welding Shop in Los Angeles, CA (13). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are El Segundo at $53/hr, Los Angeles at $51/hr, and Pasadena at $50/hr. El Segundo is among them.

Certifications this posting mentions

  • ASME Section IX — the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code qualification. It covers welding on pressure-retaining equipment — boilers, vessels, and process piping — where a failed weld is a safety incident rather than a rework ticket.

Read straight from this posting's text. Confirm the exact qualification the employer wants before you test — requirements vary by shop even under the same code.

Similar openings near El Segundo, CA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Mechanical Design Engineer - Pressure Boundary Hardware & Skid Integration figures were last recalculated when this page was built.